Monthly Archives: November 2011

Alfred

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So Alfred 1.0 is finally out today.

For those who haven’t heard of it, Alfred is a Mac app that lets you use powerful keyboard shortcuts to get your work done faster. It’s kind of like a much-improved version of Apple’s Spotlight utility. But it does a lot more.

I’ve been using it for months now, and even purchased the full version a while back, making a rare exception to my policy of not paying for software until it hits a 1.0 version. It’s that good.

However, you can download a free version and use it right now. It’s great even if you don’t pay for it, but you might find yourself wanting some of the more powerful features, which is fine, since it’s also very affordable.

The New

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When reissuing a record, or anything for that matter, the temptation seems to be for people to come up with something “new.” They feel, perhaps, that the old won’t sell, or won’t be noticed in the store.


Little Design Decisions…

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Kandace pointed this out to me this morning. Sometimes you can almost see the decisions that lead to something like this.

For example, that “blog” button is not really standard. So they probably heard complaints that people didn’t know what the button meant. So they added text. Now it’s still a bit confusing, but at least there’s text and an arrow…

This reminds me of a quote from Steve Jobs I read the other day. Allow me to paraphrase.

…If you see a stylus… they blew it. Users shouldn’t ever have to think about it.

We all know what the “t” and “f” icons mean. Perhaps it’s time for Zappos to rethink their “b” icon.

Flash is Finished

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For years – since 2007, at least – we’ve been encouraging people to drop Flash. We haven’t built a Flash site in the last five years, and several of our projects have involved rebuilding websites we’ve already designed in Flash, long ago, so that they’re friendlier to modern web browsing expectations. (Our redesign of Masu Sushi‘s website is a good example.)

So the news was not much of a surprise to us today: Adobe Flash Meets Its End. Adobe officially announced today that they’re no longer developing Flash for mobile devices. You could argue that Steve won, but we think everybody won. We doubt it will be long before Adobe stops developing Flash altogether. The writing has been on the wall for years.

Design Research and the Occupy Movement

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Ben McAllister does a little research on the Occupy movement.

But to be fair, it’s not just natural for us to categorize and stereotype, it is actually necessary and helpful. Except of course, when it isn’t. The problem with stereotypes is that they tend to inhibit empathy and dehumanize, as we’ve seen with the caricatures of the Occupy movement. Photography’s power, on the other hand, is to counterbalance this natural tendency with a healthy dose of emotion and empathy.

Making Sense of Occupy | Blog | design mind.

 

The Woodsman Tavern Ingredients Interview

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A little over a week ago, The Woodsman Tavern opened in a quiet neighborhood corner in Southeast Portland. The ambiance is delightfully and unmistakably Prohibition-esque and discussed in satisfying detail in Part 01 of our interview with Duane Sorenson. There is much more to this watering hole than design, though; from your fist step in, you can feel the calling of bright oysters, country ham, pink steak and plentiful whiskey. The sweet fig bread pudding is a bonus, pleasantly surprising revelation.

Duane spent some time chatting with us about his focus on uncovering and showcasing the steallar ingredients that grace the menu.


Drink of the Month: Rye and Ginger

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After a long day of web design, I’ve found that my drink of choice for relaxing is a Rye and Ginger. Before I go into specifics about how I like them, however, let me provide a bit of history.

If you could ask the guys under the fedoras in all those old black-and-white pictures of New York what they’ll have, odds are very high they’d tell you rye. Straight rye whiskey was the whiskey of working America. If you built skyscrapers or puddled steel, walked a beat or booked bets (we’re not gonna be the ones to tell you that’s not work), you drank rye. Sharp, musky, slightly oily, rye has got to be one of the manliest items humankind has ever created (although plenty of dolls liked it too). Back before Prohibition, though, no self-respecting saloon habitué would dream of poisoning it with ginger ale. (Brandy, sure; whiskey, no.) Unless he was a man of fancy habits, he’d take his rye straight, or at worst with a splash of soda. [Esquire]



The Woodsman Tavern Design Interview

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There is something unbelievably charming and nostalgic about The Woodsman Tavern on a wind-swept Portland evening. On my most recent visit, I was transported to another time and place. Perhaps it was Neil Young crooning or the flowing whiskey. Maybe it was the juxtaposition of lovers seated at high tables whilst families nestled into sturdy wood benches. It is difficult to put your finger on just what is so darned right about the place. And then, it dawns—you can feel the love that has been poured into every meticulous detail, from the oil paintings and incandescent lights, to the Oregon coast oysters and Tennessee ham; you intuitively know that someone has spent sleepless nights dreaming and tinkering, thinking and obsessing until the place was just right. That someone is Duane Sorenson.

On a recent chilly Portland afternoon, Duane met us down at the Horse Brass and, over a beer (or two), talked design with us. Below is the first of a two-part interview, focused on design, that kicks off a new feature here on Needmore Notes called Taste. (You can also jump to the second part of the interview to hear about the menu.)